7 Tear Jerker Books That Made Me Cry in Public

If you’re an emotional book lover like me, you’ve probably found yourself crying while reading tear jerkers in public. It’s pretty embarrassing, right? There’s nothing like a good cry over a book you’re really invested in, but having to hold back tears or try to hide them in public is the worst.

I recently started reading Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book, What Happened. I work in public policy and my office is a block from the White House, so the election was quite literally close to home for me. While I knew this would be a tough read, it’s at the center of a lot of conversations right now, and I wanted to be the person in those conversations who had actually read the book.

So during my Friday morning bus commute, I pulled up What Happened on my Kindle and started reading. Before I even got five pages into the introduction, I found myself crying. Not only does the book display the pain Hillary went through following the election; it also brings back all of the emotions I experienced during that time. Here I was, already crying in public, and there were 500 pages to go!

In honor of my most recent public reading cry, I’d like to reminisce about some past embarrassing moments and how I got through them.

What: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green—This one’s a crying classic. I hope for most of you that you were in the privacy of your own home when you-know-what happened.

Where: On the elliptical at the gym

How I tried to hide it: Pretended my tears were sweat (luckily I had a towel!)

Wow, this list is longer than I expected it to be when I started out. But I refuse to apologize for getting emotionally invested in a good book. So how about you? Help me feel less alone by sharing what tear jerkers have made you cry in public in the comments!

Jason Reynolds, Jesmyn Ward, and Joe Hill talk about their favorite books in our new podcast, Recommended. Download it for free from Apple Podcasts or Google Play.